Dr Duffuor and Johnson Asiama’s first court appearance over bank collapse

A former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor and former second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiama on Wednesday morning appeared before the Accra High Court for the first time to answer accusations of being complicit in the collapse of certain banks.

Dr Duffuor, who was also a shareholder of the defunct uniBank, is in court with his son, Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, a former CEO of uniBank, who has also been accused of playing certain roles that led to the collapse of the bank.

Other accused persons who were also in court were Prince Kofi Amoabeng, the founder of the defunct UT Bank, and other former officials of the collapsed banks.

Representing the state is a team of lawyers led by the Attorney-General (A-G), Ms Gloria Akuffo.

The case is before Justice Samuel Asiedu, a Justice of the Court of Appeal with additional responsibility as a High Court judge.

Charges

The Republic Vrs Kwabena Duffour and 8 Others

Dr Duffuor has been charged with money laundering and dishonestly receiving, while Dr Asiama has been charged with willfully causing financial loss to the state.

The charge sheet signed by the Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, and seen by Graphic Online was filed at the Accra High Court on Wednesday, February 5, 2020.

Other accused persons named in the criminal case filed at the Accra High Court are the son of Dr Duffuor, Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, who was the CEO of uniBank before it collapsed and other executives of the bank.

The others are Ekow Nyarko Dadzie-Dennis; the Chief Operating Officer of the bank, Elsie Dansoa Kyereh; Executive Head of Corporate Banking, Jeffery Amon; Senior Relationship Manager, Benjamin Ofori; Executive Head of Credit Control and Kwadwo Opoku Okoh; Financial Control Manager.

The other accused persons have been slapped with several charges including fraudulent breach of trust, money laundering, conspiracy to commit crime and the contravention of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Act.

The A-G has accused Dr Duffuor, who was also a shareholder of uniBank of using the HODA Group, to take money from the bank and “dishonestly” transferred the money which was depositors funds.

It is the case of the A-G that Dr Duffuor and HODA group allegedly dishonestly received more than Gh¢660 million from uniBank.

The A-G has accused Dr Asiama of using his position as 2nd Deputy Governor of the BoG to approve the transfer of Gh¢300 million which was an unsecured facility from uniBank to Universal Merchant Bank (UMB).

According to the A-G, Dr Asiama knew that uniBank was in financial distress but he allegedly went ahead to approve the deal.